Chapter 3

It's Monday morning and the Prince is on his way to his first class. Will's thoughts keep him occupied and he walks engrossed in his thoughts. He turns to the right and bumps into someone knocking his bag to the floor and spilling all his books. 

 "Oh my gosh, I am so so sorry!" He exclaims whilst frantically putting his books away. 

As he looks up the girl replies, "Hey don't worry about it. I'm fine." 

The Prince gapes at the sight of her and stands back up clearing his throat. She has black hair, a bitter gray-eyed glare with a firm look on her face, and underneath her robe, the colors red and gold signifying her House. Cadere. 

She reaches out a hand and says coldly, "My name is Raven Malice." 

He puts his hand in hers, "I'm William Dain." After an awkward beat of silence, "What class are you headed to?" He asks.

"Oh, I'm headed to Potions with Professor Brynmor Glynn." 

"Me too. Want to walk together?." 

"Sure," the shorter girl says without emotion. 

The two of them walk quietly to the classroom without saying a word. 

********

Weeks have gone by and Will's ice powers have increased slowly. He is excelling in every class, but there is still room for improvement. The pressure of being the best is still on him and in his letters he tells his parents how he's top of the class already. They are proud of him and want him to stay at the top of the class. No Exceptions.

 Raven is getting stronger by the day and she has almost fully mastered the element of Earth. It is only a matter of time before she passes the Prince and becomes the top of the class. She has been excelling at a slower rate than Will, but she has been second in the class since the start of school. The platinum blonde Prince is not exactly okay with Raven excelling so well because he considers her a rival. A rivalry they have been having since the start. Competing with one another, gaining house points for their houses, and trying to best the other. Raven always falls second, but recently she has been coming in first before him in most of the classes. 

One day, in the dueling class, Professor Roche has the grey-eyed girl go up against the stuck-up spoiled brat, Gregory Riaz, from the Aestas House. He always dresses impeccably well and expects everyone to treat him a certain way and he gets what he always wants. Having people serving him at his beck and call. 

Somehow he gained a group of people that listen to his every whim. The Riaz's have always been after the crown and believe it is their birthright. They are nowhere close to being related to Merlin and never had been able to be top of the class in any generation. Always coming in third or fourth. 

Malice and Riaz are on opposite sides of the dueling stage. They bow to one another and stand up straight waiting for the Professor to countdown from five. To everyone's surprise, Riaz throws fireballs at my rival. She blocks the attack quickly and keeps on blocking his fireballs by creating rock shields to cover herself. Rolling and ducking to keep from being burnt to a crisp and raising earth from the ground. With her quick maneuvers, she gets a few hits at him, which angers him more. Riaz wants to knock her from second place in the class. He is third in the class and wants to do everything possible to become first even if it means cheating. 

The most surprising part is Malice getting angry and annoyed enough about losing to Riaz, she sends a wave of water at him making him wet. Fizzling out the fireball in his hands making him unable to do the smallest spark. Everyone is in shock that she can control the element of water as well as the element of earth. 

The black haired girl has a surprised look on her face but quickly covers it with a neutral look. Only in her eyes, if you look close enough, you can see the panic there. 

A red-haired girl and two boys begin to make their way to the stage but are cut off by the Professor. He goes up to the short girl and says something to her. She nods her head and walks out of the classroom not giving her friends a second glance. The trio goes after her and disappears through the door with their robes billowing behind them. 

Scott, Isaac, and Alicia catch up to Raven in the hallway. 

"Vera!" they all said gaining her attention.

She stops and turns around to look at them. They catch up to her wanting to know what is going on. 

Before they could fully reach her she said, "I don't know what's going on with me. Professor Roche told me to go to the Headmaster and that's what I'm doing." Raising her hands, her voice fills with worry, "Stay back, please. I'll let you guys know once I'm back in the common room ok."

"Okay. We'll be waiting for you." Alicia says starting to lead the boys away. 

********

Knocking on the door to Headmaster Fairchild's Office, Raven hears a soft "Come in" so she opens the door and enters. "Sir, something happened in the dueling class and I don't understand what's going on. I have the power of the earth element but apparently, I can control the water element as well. How is that possible? I thought a person in the Cadere house couldn't control more than one element. " The girl questions immediately. 

The Headmaster smiles softly, "You've come a long way from being a girl sorted into two houses. You chose Cedere because of fate. Do you believe in fate?" He asks being cryptic. 

"I'm not sure…" She says trailing off. 

"You should because you chose to study the elements. Your powers are increasing in strength every day. Now you have mastered the element of earth, and now your powers are searching for a new element to master. Water. You may as well have another ability. The ability to control the elements of fire and light. I wouldn't be surprised with all things considered." 

"What does this all mean?" The grey-eyed girl asks tiredly of not receiving a straight answer.

 "I believe you are the chosen one and I had my suspicions since the day of your sorting. I have never seen anything like this in all my years. You may be the one related to Merlin or he simply chose you as his heir when the time is right. The one to have mastery over the elements and animals. There is a greater evil coming and you must be prepared. You will continue your curriculum like you normally would but with extra classes outside of school so you can achieve success in your abilities. I will notify your parents of your situation, and you should stay here for the holidays. We shouldn't risk your life with the threat that is out there."

 "What do you mean that there is a threat out there? I want to know what it is."

The Headmaster raises his hand, "Ms. Malice, this matter does not concern you now. Right now you need to focus on controlling your abilities and mastering them. When the time is right you will know then. You may leave now." 

Raven opens her mouth to say something but stops herself knowing that she won't get anywhere with the matter. Only half answers leading her to more questions that she does not have the answers to. 

Dejectedly, she sighs, "Thank you, Headmaster." Turning around, she opens the door and leaves the office. 

The troubled girl's mind is muddled trying to piece together the conversation. Lost in her thoughts she shakes her head, clearing her mind. The last thing she needs is for her friends to see her in this state, so she goes to the library hoping something there can help her figure out the prophecy of Merlin seeing how it's connected to her.